Spore Petition Thread
The Spore Petition Thread is a thread asking Maxis to make improvements on Spore. Drew980, the SPT's OP holder, maintains a large database of ideas and innovative suggestions to improve Spore. It is one of the few currently active threads in feedback that are noteworthy. The SPT was founded by Drew980 and cofounded by Governator123, and is managed by Drew980, Governator123, TyrannoFan, and Jabba the Hutt. The Emergence of a New Type of Feedback Thread Before the existence of the SPT, three Sporumers by the names of Drew980, Governator123, and Kooldood created a humble thread for chatting about Spore patches and possibly planning a new feedback thread. This thread, nicknamed the Kool Thread, was locked after only three pages of posts. However, from here, Drew, Governator, and Kooldood created the SPT. SPT mission statement : "The SPT or Spore Petition Thread, is a petition that is asking Maxis to improve Spore. The more people that sign the more the chance Maxis will see it. I am not saying they will, but whats the pain in trying? We want expansion, or a new game. Dont abandon us. Keep in mind that this thread is a Petition and a database for plausible new features in Spore. : Now lets get one thing straight. We can't just ask for a patch, we need an expansion. An expansion would benefit us and Maxis. Patches are not something we pay for which means Maxis dose not make money. They make money off of expansion(or game). We have more happiness/satisfaction. To understand the idea on how the expansion would work please read the "EA/Maxis" section ." Early history of the SPT The Spore Petition Thread has a long history, from day one to the current version. At the birth of the SPT, three creators (of these three, only Drew980 and Governator123 are still active) created the Spore Protest Thread. The actual thread was created by Drew980, and was updated on a regular basis. The early SPT focused on a patch to fix glitches and numerous other problems. The problem with a patch is that EAxis (EA and Maxis) gets no money in return. Eventually the SPT threw that idea out the window and focused on an expansion to for the game. The SPT also changed their name from the Spore Protest thread to the Spore Petition thread to make a clearer statement. As Spore 2 began to rise in popularity, so did the SPT. Initially, the SPT was widely criticised, especially by Shadeofmoose318 due to the massive amount of bumps the creators used. Another criticism was lodged against them for refusing to accept negative feedback, and not changing many ideas that had already been added. After the petition was stickied, the bumping ceased, and the SPT has increasingly grown more acceptive of criticism and changes. New Management Drew and his knights managed to plow through the spam and make their point. Unfortunatly Kooldood was kicked due to inactivity, but the SPT did not have to wait long for that position to be filled. Along the road, two new knights, known as TyrannoFan and Jabba the Hutt, emerged. The Spore Protest Thread Before the name change, the SPT was known as the Spore Protest Thread. This name was coined when the three original founders wanted to protest Spore, and demand a patch to fix its many problems. The problem with a patch is that EAxis (EA and Maxis) gets no money in return. EAxis also did not make any patches (with only a few expansions) for quite some time. A Change of Plan Eventually the SPT threw the idea of a huge Spore patch out the window and focused on an expansion for the game. The Spore Petition Thread After much inquiry, Drew and the managers at the time decided to throw out the old "Spore Protest Thread" and change the title to "Spore Petition Thread". There were several reasons for doing this. *First, the SPT wasn't a protest thread. The word protest gives the impression that the SPT is an angry mob, attempting to torch and destroy Spore. This was not the purpose of the SPT. *Second, many other threads began with petitions, demonstrating that this was an effective and peaceful way of getting EAxis's attention. *Third, turning the thread into a parition would give it a more professional look and feel. Modeling the thread ad *Last, after the spam in the start of the SPT, Drew and the other managers agreed that it would be best to give the SPT a new appearance or a new look. The Change in Philosophy As the SPT progressed, a patch seemed less practical. Thus, the philosophy changed from asking for a patch to asking for an expansion, for the following reasons: *Patches are free, and EAxis is not going to give away new content for free anymore; they want to make a profit. *Expansions allow for much more creative space, because patches are limited to the practical amount of downloadable content *Supporters of the SPT urged the SPT to take this step, so in order to stay with the Sporum, the SPT changed their philosophy Spore 2 As the concept of Spore 2 began to rise in popularity, so did the SPT. Another Change in Philosophy The SPT also went through another change in philosophy, but the change was not complete. Supporters and managers still considered an expansion to be a good idea, and supported it as well as the new Spore 2 ideas. The reasons for Spore 2 are very similar to the reasons for the previous changes in philosophy. The SPT wanted to stay with the current Sporum ideas. Change is coming This new philosophy opened a door for even more creative ideas. As explained in the next segment, the SPT expanded greatly with the help of the now godlike Drew. This was the turning point for the SPT; the SPT is no longer a simple feedback thread, but a place of complex ideas, and a hangout for a new Godlike Sporumer The Expansion of The SPT Many different ideas and propositions were proposed during this era of the SPT. As these ideas flourished, so did Drew. The SPT Database Eventually, the SPT made the move from a database for ideas for expansions to ideas for Spore 2. Evidently, patching and expanding Spore for the smaller things is just not practical, and it was thought it would be better if everything was built again from scratch. This was where the SPT soared in popularity, and the database grew exponentially. A new format was built to satisfy the need for organization, and multiple subthreads began to sprout. This is where the SPT is today. The Format During this era the format was also created. Started by Jabba, this format would be used in all of the following ideas. To learn more about the format, please see the actual Spore Petition Thread. Multiple Threads By now, the SPT has achieved multiple threads. Some of these threads include the database thread, and the parts pack discussion thread. Hottest Topics One of the biggest achievements was the rise to the hottest Topics, almost unexpected, the SPT claimed their place on the Hottest topics. This marked a huge mile for the SPT. Now, the SPT is the premier feedback thread on the Sporum. Stickied Not only did the SPT reach the hottest topics, but the SPT also was stickied. This also marked a huge milestone, marking the SPT as the major feedback thread of the Sporum. The Current SPT The current SPT is in the second of the four phases of a successful feedback thread. Phase 1 Phase one was all that was described above to you. The SPT gathered many different ideas, and worked on those. It was also trying to boost its image as a credible thread during those times. Phase 2 Phase two is the current phase of the SPT, beginning from the point when the thread earned a sticky. This phase is to get the community aware and on the Petition as well as members of Maxis and EA. Drew the demi-god made many attempts through contacts with MC (MaxisCactus) and a few other well contibutors to the community. Phase 3 Phase 3 is the desperate urge for expansion. Multiple creations will be uploaded onto the MPN and increased influence to the community and Maxis. At this point, EAxis will know about the SPT, and start working on the ideas. Phase 4 The fabled Phase 4 will only be apparent if the SPT survives through the first 3 stages. Only then will we be able to tell what this phase really is... It probably signifies the announcement of EAxis working on the thread, and thus its success. But, we will never really know what it is until that time comes. The Ideas are Submitted On October 21st Drew announced that he and the other managers were finally submiting the SPT's ideas to Maxis on the 1st of November. This was a huge step for Drew, the SPT, and all of it's wonderful inhabitants. The question now, however, becomes this: Will anything actually come out of all the time spent on this? Many are inclined to think not, but there may yet be a surprise for the Sporum. Drew has been said to have contacted a few moderators in his time. Only time will tell. After months of waiting, spamming, and complaints...Drew finally sent the petition in, a little after a month.. nothing..this proved one of Drew's points..it. Maxis will see his petition. With the help of infamous SporeMasterParkaboy and a few others, the petition was in fact seen. However there was no meaningful reply. "We are looking at them and are tossing things around." It was not officially announced anywhere. But there is no word whatsoever. However..it would seem the people at the begging were in fact wrong. The thread never got locked, died, failed, or got pwn striked. It is still there and is still sticked and waiting for the right moment to send the petition in again until there is a geniune response from any Maxis Dev. Outlook for the SPT As of now many more ideas have come into the thread and many from the community have contributed a huge wealth of ideas to the SPT. Our ideas have encompassed every existing game stage and even have plans for huge expansions to the game that will make Spore much more than the game that it was in 2005. At this point we have reached a huge number of signatories and are one of the most important threads in the Feedback section. It may seem that our thread is done, that all we can do is bide our time until a meaningful response comes from Maxis. However, on the forums and off, there is still yet a frontier for this thread. First off, this thread will be celebrating its first anniversary in three months' time! It will be a highly opportune time to improve the thread and gain more supporters. It would also be a great time to resend the petition in to Maxis with a larger number of signatories than before. The fact that this very thread has survived for a year now means that Maxis will take our ideas much more seriously than before. Off the forums, the prizes are even greater. Through use of Creations, the SPT can reach out to the broader Spore community, much more than is possible throught the forums. With the wealth of untapped support in the general Spore-playing community, we can make this thread truly great and make sure that the community comes first. Sporumers' opinion on the SPT Community opinion on both the thread and its leadership was formerly divided. While the SPT does have a strong base of support in those Sporumers who look up to it, several more experienced and respected Sporumers have criticized it in the past. However, this has recently changed with this thread gaining a much more professional look and feel, and consequently, improved ideas from the community. Early in the SPT's history, the thread consisted of little more than spam and bad grammar. While things have improved vastly since then, this bad start gave many older Sporumers a negative outlook on the thread from the very beginning. Therefore, the SPT's leadership has to work hard to keep public opinion about the thread up. The overzealousness of some of the thread leaders has also been questioned. During one period of time, it was impossible to post a new feedback thread without an SPT manager attempting to "recruit" the thread's poster by encouraging them to post their ideas in the SPT and "reminding" them that Maxis was likely to overlook their idea. This behavior has since decreased in frequency, but it can still be seen in some parts of the Feedback section. Since these times, the SPT has improved in quality. As a result, the thread has gained many more signatories and sponsorships from all across the Sporum. Several other threads in the Sporum have, in fact, joined the SPT's support network and have improved the ideas. The best of the thread is yey yo come. Category:Threads